Taraba: Will national honours bring reconciliation

Abubakar Sani Danladi is being honoured by the President in Abuja. But, at home there is fire on the mountain as he is facing impeachment proceedings.
Taraba State Governor, Danbaba Danfulani Suntai, a pharmacist; his deputy, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Danladi and Senator representing Taraba South, Emmanuel Bwacha are among the 149 Nigerians shortlisted to receive national honours today.

Suntai and Bwacha are recipients for the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) while Danladi is to bag the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR). But Danladi’s mood will certainly be that of mixed feelings, when he is being decorated. The State House of Assembly has served him an impeachment notice, for what it allegedly termed “gross misconduct, sharp practices and lack of capacity to function as a deputy governor”.

The national honours were instituted by the National Honours Act No. 5 of 1964, during the Nigerian First Republic, to honour Nigerians who have rendered services to the benefit of the nation. Since then, it has been the practice for the president to confer a set of orders and decorations upon honest and credible Nigerians as well as friends of Nigeria who have contributed immensely to national development.

The general view is that the 2012 list of honourees, contains names of a few impeccable Nigerians, as well as corrupt personalities, including those who are being probed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged graft and other contraventions. This implies that decorating people of questionable characters means the national honours have lost the respect and sincerity for which it was instituted for.

Danladi’s case is equally one of alleged fraud and dishonesty –to his state and national development. Is he still qualified to be decorated by the presidency, after being served with the impeachment notice? What could be of Danladi’s national honour, if, after bagging the OFR, he is pruned of his job by the legislature? Will the embattled deputy shy away from such an honour? No. He told The Nation he would receive the award. If he does, what will be his mood and the reaction of his boss (Suntai), who is said to have implored the legislature to carry out the curious impeachment process?

But how will the Assembly feel if the allegations turn out to be falsehood and unimpeachable offences? By every indication, Sani will not return to celebrate his award as number two citizen of the state. He was given 14 days, beginning from Tuesday, September 4, to respond satisfactorily or face impeachment. The impeachment threat is more apolitical than a constitutional matter and thus, his survival chances are slim, The Nation learnt.

Nevertheless, here comes an opportunity to heal the divisions. The National Honours award has set a stage for Danladi to reconcile with his boss and by extension, the state Assembly, to wave off his sins and at worse, caution him.

Danladi is particularly being accused of using his office to divert MDG facilities meant for the state, such as MDG ICT centre, a motorised borehole and solar street lamps project to his private School, Yagai Academy.

The legislators alleged that the deputy governor used his office to acquire a large parcel of land in Jalingo on which he built the Yagai Academy with multi-million-naira business ventures, such as Yagai Water, Yagai Printing Press and Yagai Restaurant, arguing that his total emolument as deputy governor could not justify the ventures.
The Taraba State Assembly is usually perceived by many as a tamed, toothless and ineffectual appendage of the executive. It was therefore a surprise when last week the legislature bared its fangs and brandished an impeachment dagger at the deputy governor.

The handwriting on the wall is crystal clear: Suntai is done with Danladi, and wants a substitute, his kitchen cabinet members have said. Sani’s sins, according to reliable sources, are many. His romance with Senators Aisha Alhassan and Tutare Abubakar as well as the former State Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Abdulmumini Vaki. The romance is perceived as unhealthy to the Suntai government.

Alhassan, who represents Taraba North in the senate and Tutare, who represents Taraba Central, have formed a stiff opposition bloc against the governor, with an eye on 2015. They fell apart with the governor during the last PDP congresses in the state where they accused the governor and his cohorts of sidelining them in the composition of party executives in their various senatorial districts.

The political atmosphere in Taraba is already charged with scheming upon scheming. Suntai, who hails from the same zone with Tutare is making plans to go into the senate when he bows out in 2015, after serving two terms as governor.

Tutare wants to be returned. Fierce acrimony and ruthless spite have rancorously plagued the body politic of state. The gladiators are all members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but ferocious campaigns for 2015 have ingrained a deep crack in the ruling party in the state.

Reliable sources said the deputy governor allegedly held a meeting with Alhassan in Saudi Arabia during the last Umrah, to plot Suntai’s downfall. On getting knowledge of the development, an angrily disappointed Suntai truculently deployed his paraphernalia to oust Danladi, whom he reportedly said he had lost confidence in. But Danladi has debunked the allegation.

The governor on Friday fired Vaki’s wife, who was his Senior Adviser, from office. “This is just the beginning of the end of our adversaries, including the deputy”, one of the governor’s aides said, adding that “Danladi’s removal is long overdue and oga (governor) is already shopping for his substitute”.

The state PDP Chairman, Mr. Victor Bala told The Nation that he would wade into the crisis. But his promise sounded more of a political statement. “I am going to do something about it. If the children are quarrelling, the father has to intervene”, he said. Bala decried the fact that the issue was not just a party squabble, hence 19 out of the 23-member House, including the deputy governor’s kinsmen from Karim-Lamido Local Government area and non-PDP lawmakers, signed the impeachment notice.

As Danladi receives his national honour, the state is keen to see how he will foil the impeachment process against him. If he does survive it, analysts have said, it would not be due to being political savvy but out of sheer sympathy from his boss (Suntai). Perhaps the national honours award will set a stage to pave the way for reconciliation.